Bryan was the last of the Great Political Orators in some ways. He could speak at great length on any topic, using powerful imagery, often of a religious nature, to audiences raised on such language and imagery.
Unfortunately, the telegraph already was encouraging economy of language, and the radio would make long speeches less useful than shorter ones which reached the point quickly. People in churches no longer spent hours listening to a single sermon, and those who followed the earsteps of Abraham Lincoln learned that eloquence was not a matter of length, but of substance.
The “Cross of Gold” speech which he thought would propel him to the Presidency would not work today.
The only orators today who speak interminably tend to be dictatorial in nature, in love with their own voice, and whose followers dote on every word, no matter how repetitious. Bryan was leagues above that, but someone who seeks his skill will learn why society has passed the skills of the long-sermoned preacher by.
